Buster Keaton remains one of the most loved of all the classic silent film comedians and his deadpan features have inspired generations of funny men. But how many fans of his silent cinema have heard him speak? Well you'll get your chance in January when his 1932 sound film Speak Easily is released on DVD in the UK for the first time by Powis Square Pictures. Don't be surprised, we are assured, if he sounds a bit like Dustin Hoffman...

Speak Easily tells the tale of  Professor Post, a bookish don who becomes convinced he has inherited a fortune, and, tired of teaching, decides to experience life outside the walls of Potts college. After falling for a beautiful dancer, he decides  to invest in her theatre show with the intention of taking it to Broadway. Naïve in the ways of women, wine and the proscenium arch, he tries his best to bring a sense of scholarly order to the proceedings.

However he has to cope with vampish leading lady Eleanor Espere, a tyrannical director, and pianist Jimmy 'schnozzle' Durante. As opening night on Broadway arrives and the audience waits, will everything go  smoothly for the Professor? Or will he crash onstage and ruin the performance, only for the audience to find it the funniest thing they have ever seen and turn a disaster into a sure fire hit (eat your heart out, Mel Brooks)?

Speak Easily will be released on UK DVD on 12th January 2008 by Powis Square Pictures at the RRP of £12.99. No extra features have been listed.